The present application relates to a container configured for holding wipes and, more particularly, to a hermetic storage system for holding wipes at least partially saturated with a liquid solution in a hermetically sealed environment.
Conventional wipe container systems exist for holding both dry and wet wipes. The wipes may be used as baby wipes, household sanitizing wipes, moisturizing wipes, personal cleansing wipes, and wipes for other general purposes. Wipe container systems provide the consumer with an efficient and convenient way to change a baby's diaper, clean up spills, sanitize surfaces, and to address any other situation normally requiring a cloth and cleaning solution.
Traditional wipe container systems usually include a container for storing wipes and a platform or lid which is often attached to the container. Generally the lid can be positioned in an open position to allow access to the wipes, or the lid may be placed in a closed position relative to the container to provide an enclosed environment for the wipes. The wipe container systems commonly include a latch or other mechanism to maintain the lid in a closed position. The wipes are placed within the container, where they can be accessed by either lifting the lid or removed through a hole within the lid. Conventional wipe container systems are often configured such that they can be refilled rather than replaced, minimizing the amount of refuse produced.
Traditional wipe container systems commonly use liquid impregnated wipes, which are a combination of a cloth or other absorbent carrier and a substance such as a cleansing solution. One advantage of an integrated wipe/solution system is the elimination of the need to purchase and store both dry cloths and cleansing solutions. Other advantages include avoiding airborne or other hazards associated with spraying or applying a cleaner, avoiding mixing and measuring of cleaning solutions, and removing the need to clean a cloth after use. However, traditional wipe container systems do not provide a hermetic seal to prevent evaporation and contamination of the contents. As a result, the impregnated wipes deteriorate in quality due to evaporation during storage and become undesirable for use or sale.
The design of many conventional wipe container systems primarily focuses on allowing the consumer to easily and efficiently open the container and remove successive wipes using only one hand. However, these designs are often problematic in that they provide an ineffective seal when the lid is closed thereby magnifying evaporation or contamination of the wipes. Some manufacturers have attempted to overcome this problem by using a seal with an overlapping design wherein a section of the lid overlaps a section of the container when the lid is closed. In many cases this design is not continuous around the entire connection between the lid and container, resulting in a less effective seal. Containers which include multiple lids or openings utilizing these less effective seal designs only compound the potential evaporation and contamination problems by creating even more room for evaporation or contamination to occur.
Another problem with many traditional wipe containers occurs when the consumer does not realize that the container has not been closed correctly. If a lid is not closed properly the interface between the lid and container section will allow accelerated evaporation or contamination of the solution, potentially rendering the product useless for its intended purpose. A related problem is the need to manually deflect a portion of the lid to engage it with the container. This requires the use of both hands and also creates both closing and sealing problems.
To overcome the disadvantages and problems of existing wipe containers, it would be advantageous to provide an inexpensive and simple-to-use hermetic storage system capable of containing wipes that are at least partially saturated with a liquid solution in a hermetically sealed environment. The hermetic storage system may advantageously be sealed and opened without manual deflection of the container or lid. Also, it would be advantageous to provide an inexpensive simple-to-use hermetic storage system capable of providing a hermetically sealed environment which can be manufactured in one piece. It would also be desirable to provide an inexpensive simple-to-use hermetic storage system capable of providing an audible indicator once a hermetic seal has been established. It would further be advantageous to provide a hermetic storage system capable of supporting at least one partially saturated wipe in a container that is flexible to enable the hermetic storage system to be more suitably stored in places of limited size such as pockets, purses, briefcases, backpacks, vehicle storage compartments, diaper bags and the like. It would further be advantageous to provide a structure for supporting a flexible container in a manner sufficient to create a hermetic seal between the flexible container and the structure.